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Craven Street, LondonSource: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Craven_Street,_Charing_Cross_-_geograph.org.uk_-_618745.jpg
Author: Stephen McKay
Craven Street is associated with a few famous people, foremost of which being Benjamin Franklin, who lived at 36 Craven Street from 1757 to 1762 and from 1764 to 1775. The house is now the Benjamin Franklin House Museum.
Another famous occupant of 36 Craven Street was Dr William Hewson (1739-1774), a surgeon who often called the Father of Hematology. His work involved cutting up corpses to examine them. In 1998, while workmen were restoring Benjamin Franklin's home, they uncovered the remains of six children and four adults under the house, totalling 1,200 pieces. Medical instruments were also found. These came to be known as the Craven Street Bones.
The corpses were believed to have been dissected by Hewson who, unable to obtain corpses through legitimate sources, may have turned to Bodysnatchers - people who secretly dig up corpses from graveyards. It is not known whether Benjamin Franklin is aware of this, but the possibility is that he may have known of it, and allowed it for the purpose of advancement in the knowledge of human anatomy.
Craven Street is also the home of the College of Optometrist, which houses the British Optical Association Museum. The college was founded in 1980 when the British Optical Association, the Scottisth Association of Opticians and the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers surendered their examining function to the college. The British Optical Association and the Scottish Association of Opticians also disbanded.
A notable resident of Craven Street is German poet Heinrich Heine (1799-1856) who lived there in 1827.
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Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.
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